STUNNING SIGHT: A young humpback whale got up close to divers underwater on a Sunday dive at Wolf Rock.Wolf Rock Dive

Mrs Butler believes the thousands of whales passing Cooloola Coast waters during their annual migration use Wolf Rock, made up of four volcanic pinnacles east of Double Island Point, to navigate the coastline.

"We think they use Wolf Rock as a navigating pinnacle to get up past Fraser Island because they want to stay in the deeper water," Mrs Butler said.

"We hear them a lot on the dive but it's the first time we've seen them this year."

The whales regularly migrate from Antarctic waters along the east coast of Australia every winter to the warmer waters of the Great Barrier Reef to breed and calve.

This year is predicted to be a bumper season for whale sightings, with migration beginning earlier than usual.

The underwater sights at Wolf Rock on Sunday. Courtesy of Wolf Rock Dive.Contributed